title: Self-compassionate reactions to health threats.
abstract: Four studies investigated the relationship between self-compassion, health behaviors, and reactions to illness. Participants completed measures of self-compassion, health-related thoughts and feelings, reactions to actual and hypothetical illnesses, and self-regulation. Study 1 revealed that self-compassion was related to health-related cognitions and affect for healthy and unhealthy participants. In Study 2, self-compassion predicted participants' reactions to actual illnesses beyond the influence of illness severity and other predictors of health behaviors. Self-compassionate people also indicated they would seek medical attention sooner when experiencing symptoms than people lower in self-compassion. Study 3 demonstrated that self-compassion is related to health-promoting behaviors even after accounting for self-regulatory capabilities and illness cognitions. Study 4 revealed that the relationship between self-compassion and health reactions is partially explained by a proactive approach to health, benevolent self-talk, and a motivation toward self-kindness. Overall, these studies demonstrate that self-compassion has important implications for health-promoting behaviors and reactions to illness.
authors.affiliation: Duke University, Durham, NC 27707, USA. Meredith.Terry@duke.edu
authors.forename: Meredith L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Terry
authors.forename: Mark R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Leary
authors.forename: Sneha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mehta
authors.forename: Kelly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Henderson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003071:Cognition; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D012649:Self Concept; D012647:Self-Assessment; D012927:Social Control, Informal; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013850:Thinking
keywords: health; illness; self-compassion; self-regulation; self-talk